Monday, September 30, 2013

Hello and welcome everyone to Chapter 2 of the Black Spiral Campaign. I would like to thank everyone for the 32 submissions we received which has triggered this plot development. Enjoy and the next set of missions will be available October 4th.

Inquisitor Hexx:

Access Inquisitorial Log: Hexx 6-14-638.882 Sigma Centari

Passcode: Epsilon Delta 8 3 2 Phi 9 2 4 Gamma

Servitor Program:

[Initiate Retinal Scan]

[Welcome Inquisitor]

Inquisitor Hexx:

Inquisitorial
Journal Entry for Leviticus Hexx of Ordo Maleus

Imperial Date is the 7thday of the 8thLunar Cycle of the
Charon system, in the year M41.638

Acolyte Garroth Malek failed to retrieve the xenos archeotech upon the
surface of XC-9. Upon arrival on
planet's surface, the residents had been alerted to intruders and inflicted
heavy casualties upon Malek's forces.
Malek had been unable to penetrate the perimeter of the compound and as
a result had to withdraw. Acolyte
Malek's faith in the will of the Emperor has shown signs of wavering these past
few weeks, perhaps a visit to the purification chambers would renew his faith. His absolute failure is evidence of this
fact.

Computer - schedule
Acoylte Gareth Malek a security clearance downgrade to Beta and 72 hours of
purification at the hands of Xander. Acolyte Gareth Malek is to be contained within
his hab cell until he is moved to his scheduled purifcation.

Acolyte Princepia was
able to note a small group leaving the scene as our forces arrived. She pursued the group which consisted of at
least 40 heavily armed men and she saw they were dragging a very large object
on multiple hoverpads. Acolyte Princepia dispatched a sentry that wore
the uniform of one of Inquisitor Menoch DeOrc vanguard. The armed force then moved the object, which
by her estimates was 11 meters long and weighed several tons, on to a waiting
shuttle that took off into the night sky.

Has Inquisitor DeOrc
betrayed me? Why were his men on the
scene and what did they recover from the compound? Was the large object part of the Black Spiral
that I seek? By seeking council with
DeOrc have I been betrayed by another's agenda?
I must know what has transpired. I
will get answers one way or another.

I have recently unearthed what could be a very powerful xenos
archeotech upon the surface of XC-9 and I am unable to decipher what it's
purpose is or how dangerous it is. I am
petitioning your assistance in this matter as you are the resident and leading
expert on Xenos technology. The entire
item is covered and inscribed with the sick and demented language of the
Eldar.

if we could meet somewhere, I could bring the artifact with
me and you could examine it there. I am
desperate to ensure the safety of the residents of this star system.

Imperial Date is the 16thday of the 8thLunar Cycle of the
Charon system, in the year M41.638

Inquisitor Deorc has responded to my request and has
"graciously" agreed to meet with me to examine the artifact we
discussed. Our conversation leads me to
believe that he does not suspect that he is aware that I know of his
treachery. We shall meet on the surface
of planet XC-9 this time two days from now.

Inquisitor Leviticus Hexx: Menoch, it is good to see you
Inquisitor. Thank you for agreeing to
meet with me with such haste.

Inquisitor Menoch DeOrc: You are most welcome Leviticus but
your missive was most troubling, where is this xenotech you spoke of in your
missive?

Inquisitor Leviticus Hexx: It's here and we'll get to it in a
moment, I wanted to ask you a few things before we got started my dear
friend. Things that have been most
troubling to me that I think you may be able to provide answers to.

Inquisitor Menoch DeOrc: Absolutely my friend, what do you
need to know?

Inquisitor Leviticus Hexx: Good, this is good we are forging a stronger bond
already! Too often than I would care to
admit, Inquisitors double cross each other in pursuit of their own agendas and
I'm glad that we have a relationship that does not lend to such cut-throat
behavior. That said, I had sent you a
missive concerning a xenos artefact several months ago upon the surface of
XC-9. Do you remember that missive?

Inquisitor Menoch DeOrc: Of course I do Leviticus, that is
why I assumed you reached out to me again.
You appear to have found what you were looking for on the surface of
XC-9 no?

Inquisitor Leviticus Hexx: Come now Menoch, do you actually expect me to believe you
did not send one of your shock troop regiments down to the surface of XC-9 and
that you did not recover an arte[cccchkkkzzzzzaaaaazzzzzzzzz] *data corruption*
[ccchuuuuueeeeeeeeekkkkkkkk] was 11 meters long and load it upon your ship and
on the very night I had my raid planned?

Inquisitor Menoch DeOrc: Leviticus you must be mista..

Inquisitor Leviticus Hexx: Do not lie to me DeOrc!
You sent a covert foray and stole the artefact before I could even get
there leaving my men to be butchered like swine when they attempted to
infiltrate!

Inquisitor Menoch DeOrc: Leviticus, let me explain.
The artifact you seek is too dangerous, your Interrogator Vallon showed
me the text you were stud...Leviticus put that gun away you dare draw a weapon upon another agent of
the Throne?

Inquisitor Leviticus Hexx: Inquisitor Menoch DeOrc of the Ordo Xenos, I find you guilty
of heresy against the Throne. You have
transpired against another Inquisitor to prevent the salvation of the
Imperium. For that reason I declare
you...

Inquisitor Menoch DeOrc: Have you lost your mind?
There is no heresy there. I am
acting on orders above our station to bring in this xenotech and protect others
like yourse....

Inquisitor Leviticus Hexx: ... Heretic. You
will now burn for your crimes against the Imperium.

[shouting
from multiple unidentified sources]

Inquisitor Menoch DeOrc: You have lost your mind, I am no heretic you fool! You are pursuing something that you do not
understand. The Conclave bid me to
retrieve the weapon before it fell into the wrong hands. Order your men to stand down!

A points value of 1,500 to 2,000 points per side is
recommended for this mission.

The Battlefield:The Firefight
will use the Vanguard Strikedeployment.

.

Deployment:Beforedeploying their forces,
players should first roll for their Warlord Traits. Once the Warlord Traits have been
determined, the players will roll off to determine who is The Attacker and the
Defender. Both players will then
roll off the winner choosing which side they wish to deploy in. The Defender will then deploy their
forces first followed by the Attacker after.

First Turn:The
Attacker goes first unless the Defender spots them coming and canSeize the Initiative.

Game Length:This
game uses variable game length as described on page 122 of the BRB.

The Mission:The
Attacker:

Primary Mission
isPurge the Alien.

Secondary Mission:None

The Defender:

Primary Mission
isPurge the Alien.

Secondary Mission:None

Victory Conditions:Each
Mission has their own Victory conditions.

Should the player meet the Victory Conditions for their
Primary Mission, then that player receives5
Battle Points. Should
the player also reach the victory conditions for their Secondary Mission, they
then receive3 Battle Points.

The secondary objectives of each mission are worth1 Battle Pointeach (Slay the Warlord, First Blood,
Linebreaker).

Should the Attacker accomplish the secondary
objective of Slay the Warlord - it
is worth 3 Battle Points.

Should the Defender have their Warlord alive at
the end of the game then they are granted - 3 Battle Points.

The player with the mostBattle
PointsorBP’sat the end is the winner of the
scenario.

Mission Special Rules:Nightfighting,
Reserves.

Should the Defender
win “The Firefight” scenario, then both players may also play the second
mission as well.

A points value of 1,500 to 2,000 points per side is
recommended for this mission.

The Battlefield:The
Hunt Begins will use theDawn
of Wardeployment.

Players roll off to see who chooses which
side of the table.

Place a Primary Objective:

After setting up terrain, the players take it in turns to place a single
Primary Objective marker in their own table half. Normal restrictions for placing markers
apply.

Deployment:Beforedeploying their forces,
players should first roll for their Warlord Traits. Once the Warlord Traits have been
determined, the players will roll off to determine who is The Attacker and the
Defender. The Defender will
then deploy their forces first followed by the Attacker after.

First Turn:The
Attacker goes first unless the Defender spots them coming and canSeize the Initiative.

Game Length:This
game uses variable game length as described on page 122 of the BRB.

Should the player meet the Victory Conditions for their
Primary Mission, then that player receives5
Battle Points. Should
the player also reach the victory conditions for their Secondary Mission, they
then receive3 Battle Points.

In
The Emperor's Will Mission - the Attacker scores 5 Battle
Points for claiming the Defender's Primary
Objective.

In
The Emperor's Will Mission - the Defender may use the Heavy
Metal rule (Big Guns Never Tire Mission p.128) in this scenario.

The secondary objectives of each mission are worth1 Battle Pointeach (Slay the Warlord, First Blood,
Linebreaker).

The player with
the mostBattle PointsorBP’sat the end is the winner of the
scenario.

There has been a rumor of
a possibly dangerous Xenos artifact upon the surface of planet XC-9.You are being dispatched immediately to
investigate this rumor and report back your findings.You have been granted Gamma level resource
allocation, and full access to the ships Imperial Guard and Naval ground forces
upon this ship.You will find the
attached dossier which contains the planets information and locations of
possible sites.Expect threat level to
be Malleus Majorus or higher.Proceed
with extreme caution.

In the Emperor’s Name we
Trust.

Inquisitor Hexx

Inquisitor
Hexx:

Send Dispatch

Close Security Portal

Servitor
Program – metallic/robotic voice:

[Message Dispatched to
TD889>]

[Message Dispatched to
SK332DD9K]

[Portal
closed, good-bye Inquisitor]

The Deployment Zone podcast would like to kick off the
Black Spiral campaign with Chapter 1: the Hunt Begins!The campaign will be a four month long event
with updates both on the podcast and this blog.
Please remember to email your results to john@thedeploymentzone.com and I
will compile them for the next chapter.

The Black Spiral, as mentioned
before, is a weighted campaign where the results of the previous chapter will
determine the missions and storyline moving forward.Players are encouraged to also send battle
reports and summaries in as well and I will do my best to post them.

Mission Scenario A – The Hunt Begins

The Armies:

A points value of 1,500 to 2,000 points per side is
recommended for this mission.

The Battlefield:The Hunt Begins will use the Dawn of
War deployment.

Before placing terrain, place a counter or coin in the
center of the battlefield to represent the
Relic.Note that in this mission, no
impassible or lethal terrain can be placed in the center of the board.

Deployment:Before deploying their forces, players should first
roll for their Warlord Traits.Once the
Warlord Traits have been determined, the players will roll off to determine who
is The Attacker and the Defender.The
Defender will then deploy their forces first followed by the Attacker after.

First Turn:The Attacker goes first unless the Defender spots them coming and can Seize the Initiative.

Game Length:This game uses variable game length as described on page 122 of the BRB.

The Mission:The Attacker:

Primary Mission is The
Relic

Secondary Mission: Purge
the Alien

The Defender:

Primary Mission is Purge
the Alien.

Secondary Mission: The
Relic

Victory Conditions:Each Mission has their own Victory conditions.

Should the player meet the Victory Conditions for their
Primary Mission, then that player receives 5
Battle Points.Should the player
also reach the victory conditions for their Secondary Mission, they then
receive 3 Battle Points.

The secondary objectives of each mission are worth 1 Battle Point each (Slay the Warlord,
First Blood, Linebreaker).

The player with the most Battle Points or BP’s at
the end is the winner of the scenario.

Mission Special Rules:Nightfighting, Reserves.

Should the Defender win “The Hunt Begins” scenario, then
both players may also play the second mission as well.

Restrictions: Neither Attacker nor Defender may use
Vehicles (Tanks, Walkers, Transports, Bikes – Jetbikes however are allowed,
Skimmers, Chariots) or Cavalry.Nor may
either side use Fliers.

The Battlefield:The Battlefield is a small frigate that has not yet left the planet’s
orbit.The Defenders having won the
previous scenario have decided to move their Relic to a new location.Therefore the battlefield is the hull of a
ship.

The Battlefield is to be played upon a 2’ x 4’ board.

The Breaking and
Entering mission will use a modified Hammer
and Anvil deployment.

Before placing terrain, place a counter or coin in the
center of the battlefield to represent the
Relic.Note that in this mission, no
impassible or lethal terrain can be placed in the center of the board.

Please try to mimic the displayed map as much as possible
to represent the corridors and walls of a frigate in space.

Deployment:Before deploying their forces, players should first
roll for their Warlord Traits.Once the
Warlord Traits have been determined, the players will roll off to determine who
is The Attacker and the Defender.The
Defender will then deploy their forces first followed by the Attacker after.

The Attacker may set up within 6” of their board edge.

The Defender may set up within 12” of their board edge.(Please disregard the incorrect label on
the map that should read 12”)

First Turn:The Attacker goes first unless the Defender spots them coming and can Seize the Initiative.

Game Length:This game uses variable game length as described on page 122 of the BRB.

The Mission:

The Mission is a modified The Relic mission, where the goal is to capture the Relic and bring
it to your short board edge. The Relic will follow all the same mission special
rules as the BRB mission.

Victory Conditions:The player who brings the Relic to their board edge in their deployment
zone wins the Mission.

Secondary Objectives for this mission are: Slay the Warlord and First Blood.

Winning the Scenario is worth 3 BP’s.

Each Secondary Objective is worth 1 BP each.

Mission Special Rules:

Nightfighting will be in effect the
first turn due to the power loss of the Attackers breaching the frigate’s
hull.

Deepstrike may only be
used by Chaos Daemons.

Please email the results to john@thedeploymentzone.com and I
will compile the results before I release the next mission pack.Please don’t hesitate to email me also with
any questions you may have about the above missions.

Imperial Date is the 14th day of the 6th
Lunar Cycle of the Charon system, in the year M41.638

Tobias has finally translated the entire text.It has taken him almost two years but he has
finally discovered what the witches were doing on that planet.The Eldar had developed a weapon they called
“The Black Spiral”.This weapon was capable
of destroying planets with a single shot but the Eldar only used it once
according to these records.They said the
weapon’s power came at “too great a cost”.

Tobias says that the Eldar, fearful of the power they
could have unleashed upon the galaxy, dismantled the Black Spiral after its
first foray into space.The Eldar then
spirited away the parts of this Black Spiral and hid them across the cosmos,
never to be reunited for fear of the death that would follow this weapon’s
reawakening.Tobias states that this
book contains a reference to where one of the pieces may reside.I have decided to dispatch our forces to the edge
of the Charon system to investigate a possible lead.

My Interrogator Vallon cautions me that I am devoting too
many resources to this search and he is concerned that we are chasing ghosts as
he put it.What Vallon does not realize
is that mankind is losing a war against the Ruinous Powers.Mankind needs such a weapon with the constant
attacks by Xenos and Chaos.What is too
great a cost when it means that mankind can survive?

What right does this race of degenerate witches have to
determine what is too great a cost in the war against chaos?What do they know of sacrifice?If we could fire this weapon into the Eye of
Terror, it could wipe out chaos entirely.Does Vallon not realize that this could turn the tide against the
Ruinous Powers?

And what is too much to sacrifice to reach this goal?What is the life of one person or the lives
of ten, twenty, one hundred?Are a
thousand too many? Or maybe even ten thousand, maybe a million…a billion.When does it stop for us, when is it “too
great a sacrifice”.I won’t have some
pointy eared witch telling me what is too much.Not when the fate of the universe and the struggle against Chaos hangs
in the balance.No sacrifice is too
great.The Imperium of Mankind must
survive… at any cost.

Imperial Date is the 7th day of the 11th Lunar
Cycle of the Charon system, in the year M41.637

It has been fourteen months since I have been sent to the
Charon system and no major trace of the Great Enemy has been uncovered.As my previous journal entries state,
numerous minor heretical cells have been discovered, purified and purged in His
Name but nothing on the scale of a major uprising or matter of concern.We will continue to be vigilant nonetheless.

Tobias has continued to translate the xenos text and his
discoveries have yielded something most interesting.The script and dialect that the eldar used in
this journal is ancient even according to their race and according to the
pages, the Eldar were at war with an unknown adversary that we have yet to
determine.The report states that there
are numerous mentions of something called “the Black Spiral” but he is unable
to determine exactly who or what that pertains to.One thing Tobias is certain of though is that
something major happened here that resulted in the planet being abandoned by
the Eldar.

Imperial Date is the 23rd day of the 4th
Lunar Cycle of the Charon system, in the year M41.637

Rumors of infernalism and heresy in the Charon system
have drawn the attention of the Lords of the Ordo Malleus.

In order to justify mounting concerns of losing an entire
system to chaos, my superiors dispatched me to the Charon system to ensure
there is no trace of the Great Enemy.

Today has yielded the first break through of the past
seven cycles in my investigation.Tobias,
my adept, had finally translated the first few pages of that ancient tome my
acolytes discovered in the ruins of some sort of Xenos base on Charon IV.

I had been concerned that this tome and its contents held
nefarious and infernal secrets so while Tobias sat in a protective circle and
translated the archaic words, an entire squad of storm troopers kept watch with
hellguns ready in case possession occurred.I was not about to have another repeat of the Langstrom IX.Adepts are easy to replace, frigates are
not.

I have reviewed the report Tobias sent me along with the
translated script and the tome seems to be a journal or record of what appears
to be an Eldar witch, a farseer they call themselves.These xenos filth apparently inhabited this world in ages past and were
apparently embroiled in some sort of conflict against an enemy that Tobias and
I have yet to ascertain.

I will have Tobias continue to translate this text, the
reports from my acolytes state that the ruin’s layout seemed to lend itself to
being a fortress of some sort.This will
require more investigation. While I
find no trace of the Ruinous powers thus far, these xenos ruins intrigue me and
will require more investigation.